I think I'm in love. I just might elope. Obama campaign, I have my eyes on you.

The night of Iowa, I remembered that fateful night four years ago when the Dean campaign crashed and burned and realized how far we've come. Or that chill-inducing speech at the Democratic national convetion. Who would have expected the youth vote? Well, we saw the midterm returns and saw hope for things to come, but the talking heads didn't really listen. But it's materializing exactly as we hoped - and the youth vote might just carry Obama all the way to the white house. Of course it's not just the youth. As I said last May, the previously apathetic and unegaged could become a force to be reckoned with. And what's a better sign of the health of a democracy?

It all comes down to leadership, as Marshall Ganz says. Great leaders create change and bring people together, not just around one cause, but around hope for a better future. As Markos Moulitsas said a few years ago in Crashing the Gate, the downfall of the democratic party has been the fragmentation around issues. Everyone judges the political landscape through the lens of their issue. This has weakened the democratic party to the extent that nobody can work together or make compromises for the common good. I've seen my colleagues in the LGBT rights or environmental communities throw barbs at the Obama campaign from this perspective, saying that the only common cause the Obama campaign unifies around is the Obama campaign. Now, nobody's going to have a perfect record about every issue. What matters is an ability to inspire hope and rally people to the extend that we can learn to compromise and work together, even if that means small costs to our pet issue. Obama can do this. The question, however, is if we can muster the optimism necessary to give him a chance. I hope so.